1. Field
Embodiments relate to an image forming apparatus having a developer roller blade to control toner amount and charge quantity of a developer roller included in a developer cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus forms a toner image by forming an electrostatic latent image on a photoconductor with a potential difference and supplying toner as developer stored in a developer cartridge to the electrostatic latent image. The developer cartridge is provided with a developer roller that is rotated in response to rotation of the photoconductor and has a constant potential energy. The toner attached to the developer roller is delivered to the electrostatic latent image of the photoconductor by a potential difference between the developer roller and the photoconductor.
The image forming apparatus may charge the toner with a uniform charge. Conventionally, the image forming apparatus is equipped with a developer roller blade to apply pressure to the developer roller, which ensures uniform charge of the toner to be attached to the developer roller and enables control of toner amount M and charge quantity Q.
With regard to control of toner amount M and charge quantity Q, conventionally, the developer roller blade has been controlled in terms of a constant-voltage. In addition, conventionally, non-sensing prediction control using only the lifespan of the image forming apparatus and surrounding environment information (e.g., temperature and humidity) has been adopted, and thus no sensing devices to detect states of components inside the developer cartridge have been utilized.